How old are your clothes? And do you remember where and when you got them?

[CeartGoLeor]

Another thread currently going (about people slavishly copying someone else's house interior or clothes) got me thinking about why, in the highly unlikely event that anyone should want to do so with mine, they wouldn't be able to. Mainly because I keep clothes for a long time, and am not fashion-y -- so you couldn't replicate my look by buying a bunch of this season's stuff on the high street.

That got me thinking about how old some of my clothes are. Often I've no idea, but sometimes I do. I have some men's cashmere jumpers I bought at an outlet in New York in 1995, a wool coat I bought in Oxford in 1997 with my first scholarship cheque (baked beans for weeks after), and a dressing gown made out of quilted cotton sari fabric that I was given by the friend who made it around 1997/8.

How old are the oldest garments (other than vintage stuff, which was old before you bought it) that you still wear and do you remember where you got them from?

I have a navy blue velvet coat bought around 25 years ago (pre children) it still gets compliments now
DP bought me some cashmere lined leather gloves 15-20 years ago lining now gained a few small holes so have just replaced but can't bear to throw the old ones away
Oldest item of all is a pair of yellow kickers that I saved up my pocket money for in 1978 after seeing Midge Ure in Slik wearing some on an album cover - it took me months and had to persuade my parents to take me on a 150 mile round trip back to a boutique in the city I had seen them in!!!

I have a dress I bought in Whistles in 1995 that I still occasionally wear. I originally bought it for a summer ball at my first job. It cost £99 which seemed a lot of money but I've certainly had good value out of it. It's a very accommodating cocktail dress in fairly heavy bias-cut satin that has got be from ordinary restaurant meals, through weddings, to black-tie balls - I even wore it when I was 7 months pregnant. I just prefer to wear it with something over the arms these days.

I now enjoy telling my students that it is older than they are. They probably think I am a bit weird.

I have a nightshirt which I changed into after giving birth to my eldest son - he's fifteen now. I saw it in a baby photo.

I have a sundress my mum wore in the 50s which I still wear ( or did until I put on weight!). Also, have a few clothes from my teens (80s), although haven't worn them recently.

I keep some clothes as souvenirs of my youth. I have patchwork flare jeans and a gingham blouse from my nineties clubbing days (my style was inspired by the Cotton Eyed Joe video :) ) and a pale, boxy denim jacket from school/uni dating back twenty five years.

I also have a luscious, chocolate brown leather blazer shaped jacket that I bought when I started working, from River Island. That jacket has been shoved on every pub floor from here to Aberdeen. My DP calls it the Donnie Brasco. Sadly it's just a bit too tight to wear now.

I'll always keep it though, I couldn't part with it.

I've got suits from my first job at 18, my late wonderful grandmother bought them. 15 years on they still look great. But being a sahm I don't get to wear them.

Some of my designer bags are 10 plus years. I am glad that I invested in them. They fit no matter what my dress size!

I still have my firstpair of DMs which are 25 years old and also my first black biker jacket which I had for my 18th birthday, 34 years ago and I can still get into it (I think). Both more for sentimental reasons that use though. In terms of use I have changed shape far too many times, moved house too many times and cleared out too many times to have stuff in regular wear!

So it's not just me then ...I have A dress from 23 years ago. Plenty of smart trousers/skirts circa the 90's...
There are a few things a gave away which I really regret...a satin pencil skirt in a rich blue from French connection... A grey pair of wool boyfriend trousers.. And the perfect pair of summer shoes bought in banana republic in Baltimore (I mourn them all)...

I don't really have anything in my wardrobe(s) that's more than 3 years old, but that's because my weight fluctuates so much, there's nothing I own that's older that still fits. I'm an avid ebayer and have sold umpteen items on there over the past decade. I'm also pretty ruthless about chucking out tired garments and giving stuff away to charity shops. I do have clothes in my loft that I can't bear to part with because they bring back so many memories. Looking through some of them the other day, it's struck me how much clothing sizes have changed over the years. The size 10 dresses I wore in the mid 90s are more like a modern day size 6...oh, to be that skinny again, rather than a sagging size 14!

I have some great charity shops near me where I have managed to find several classic items like cashmere sweaters and such. I don't know how old they may be. They get plenty of wear. The look I go for is 'classic' with the hope of never looking either fashionable and its unfortunate corollary 'unfashionable' and I also try to avoid too much clothes shopping that way. I get rid of clothes that don't work any more due to weight fluctuations, or that I have really flogged to death, and there have been things I replaced with versions that were in better shape, like black sweaters. I think the oldest things I have date from the 70s and 80s, that I kept just for sentimental reasons -- the DCs have worn them as part of Halloween costumes over the years . Things I bought myself within the last 15 years that are still going strong are a denim jacket from Gap and a pale wheat corduroy jacket with denim jacket styling. I expect them to be permanent fixtures.

I also have lots of shoes and boots that are really old but well kept.

I spent a lot of time pregnant and the pregnancy clothes are all gone. I hated them so much by the time DC5 was born I was tempted to burn them all.

I love to shop and admit to buying things when I don't necessarily need them.

That being said I have just this second ordered a red stripey top from Uniqlo (as I saw it on another thread) to replace mine that I've worn near enough every week for the last 7 years! It was an H&M one, the first thing I bought when moving to London from the land of the Cornish. I noticed it was looking a tad grey during summer and have been trying to find an alternative for months.

Fingers crossed this will be the start of a beautiful friendship.

I've been every size from an 8 to 22 and up and down a few times, each time requiring a new wardrobe. I also just buy cheap clothes that don't last long so I'm often having to replace holey leggings etc.

I'm not into fashion at all and wish I could (re) buy some of the things I had 15 years ago.

I hate much of what is in the shops now- those awful bright greens/yellows/oranges/pinks yuk!

I want comfort and practicality in my clothes.

Men get a much better deal imo.

Apart from my bridemaid dress circa 1974 I think the oldest thing I have and wear is a Chinese style dressing gown from Hong Kong around 1990. I have recently found a dress from the early '90s with a St Michael label in. Its got a 40's style to it so wouldn't look out of place wearing now.

Almost all my clothes are far older than me, I've always worn mainly vintage, even in my early teens. (I am 51). I have vast amounts of clothes as I am still hoping to finally lose the baby weight caused by having babies in my 40s , and as everything is so old and unique I can't bear to get rid of it (and I have two dds to pass it on to. ) I have hundreds and hundreds of things, bags and drawers and cupboards full, but I could tell you when and where I got every single thing, from stockings to coats.

In terms of the thing I've had the longest, I still have my baby dresses...But I still wear a jumper I had aged 12, a 30s dress that I also got aged 12, and lots of 50s things of my mothers that I was wearing from 11 or so, like cardigans and dresses.

I also have a denim bomber jacket DD1 had when she was twelve (she must have been going through a puppy fat stage ) It fits me and I occasionally wear with a summer dress.
And the one thing I do have which doesnt fit me is a button through cream dress with tiny red and green flowers I was going to throw it out but DD2 told me she remembered my wearing it for work when she was little (shes 25 so it must be about 22 years old)

SirVix, it's an interesting point - do people with lots of vintage clothes that, while they may or may not be valuable or designer-y, represent years of collecting, actually make more of an effort to stay the same size than those of us who live in more 'disposable' clothes where we can just buy the next size up...?

Well I am making an effort, but currently failing! However it means I have hardly anything to wear, as you say, I can't just buy the next size up and I want to wear the things I have. It has taken me a lifetime to find all these things and some of them I simply couldn't afford to buy now, as vintage was very cheap when I was a teenager.

I think that's probably true Tisiphoneand SirVix. My old stuff (whether bought or inherited) is a collection built in the 70s and 80s when vintage was cheap. I am more or less the same size at 58 as I was at 18 (actually 12lbs heavier now, post DC and menopause. Often I acquired clothes that were too loose but unique, and they still fit, but I wear them quite rarely as I don't have the same lifestyle. However, vanity and health (and two dogs) ensure I can still fit into the old stuff. There was a Vogue book, from the mid-70s, called "More Dash than Cash" which was formative!

Missing closing parenthesis: (12lbs heavier post DC and menopause).